Cold Shoulder
by AzureEmpire
Summary: Erza and Gray wake up after one crazy night of alcohol and confessions. Will things be the same? Read and find out. ErzaGray, NatsuLucy. Reviews are appreciated!


Do Not Own Fairy Tail...

Wish I did ...

***

He was in a daze, the dim lighting gleamed off of the maroon walls and sprayed out onto the dark covers of the bed in which they were currently tossing about.

He didn't know if it was the alcohol or the surreal passion that made him unable to perceive his surroundings, '_probably the alcohol_' he thought_. _However, it was irrelevant because his body and his actions were automatic. He didn't have to think as he was pressed down onto the soft surface by the vixen slowly grinding atop him.

He exhaled deeply feeling light butterfly kisses creep up his abdomen to his neck and further up his chin. He slowly, passionately kissed back when her cashmere-soft lips descended upon his own. His vision was then covered by a veil of crimson hair as it fell over their faces, separating them from the rest of the world. At that point it didn't matter. _She_ was his world.

Her soft lithe figure pressed up against him, and her skin felt gentler than warm beach sunlight hitting his back after a week of Ur's frigid mountain training.

Their faces moved in unison as each sought to kiss the other deeper, almost as to bond to each other. Once in a while they'd momentarily break their kisses and nuzzle one another, like two lions, a king and his queen, lying together in a close embrace under a dimly lit Savannah.

Slowly he trailed his kisses downwards, whilst still remaining beneath her, and once he'd sunk past the equator the woman above him was wracked with shivers of uncontrollable need. At that moment she wondered if he ever shivered. If he knew how his warm touch had an opposite freezing effect, much like his magic, over all her senses of rationale and decorum.

He sits up and she's half standing, half sitting on his powerful shoulders as he continues to devour her. And all she can do is grab his hair tightly in a fist of desperation whilst trying not to collapse from all the sensation. She breathes heavily, even slightly mewling at times until he makes her reach her limit. After a gasp and a powerful spasm that might've removed his head from his body were he not holding her so tight to him, he lowers his arms and shoulders and she in turn slowly slides down into his lap consuming him. But the motion is slow, and the kissing, passionate, longing, has recommenced. And he wonders if it'll end, hoping it won't.

She starts to move herself up and down as his hands travel down her back and grab curves reminiscent of an hour glass. The fiery deity then begins to go hard on him and his breath is knocked out of his lungs from the sheer prowess and beauty of this goddess that chose him. This Aphrodite-incarnate before his eyes. When he comes to climax, her honey brown eyes are fixed on his onyx orbs. Once again he is astonished by this titanic woman before him, who could crush him if she wanted, has crushed him before, but as of the moment was making his very reality distorted in a dreamlike manner. Gasping and buckling he falls backwards and she on top of him. Her beautiful ruby hair sprayed out over his chest as she continues to kiss the crevice between his pectorals up to his neck, planting one final long kiss before shutting her eyes and being carried off to a deep dreamless state.

He too, growing tired, and extremely comfortable drifted to a deep slumber, feeling her slow, light breath on his throat. In his last moments of consciousness he thought, '_If I died now, my only regret would be that I couldn't do this again. Not even in heaven...'_

***

_BBBEEEEEEPPP! BBBEEEEEPPP! BBBBEEEEPPPP!_

"ARRGH!" groaned Gray as the sound of the alarm awoke him to one of the worst headaches he'd had in his life. '_Top five for sure_, _maybe second to that drinking contest with Natsu_ thought the ice mage to himself. Regardless to say he'd won that contest, only to lose the next day in a dairy challenge. That weekend contained a lot of vomit in of its own.

"My head kills more than when it's been pounded in by Erz-..."the dark haired exhibitionist stopped in mid sentence as he looked around and realized his surroundings.

For one, this was not his room. For two, the person whose name he was just about drop was literally sleeping on his lower abdomen. For three... they were both buck naked! For four, they weren't at Erza's place either! Just as that thought entered his mind two things happened, first off Erza woke up.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?"... She was startled to say the least.

Before Gray could respond, not to say that he had a response in mind because he couldn't remember jack shit, he heard Natsu and Lucy (mostly Natsu due to his constant yelling and bickering) coming up the stairs and towards the front door.

"So that's who's room we're in," said Gray to himself and then remembered that Erza was right there.

Within that half second time span Erza had already ex-quipped some clothes and armour on and was already half way out the window. Gray dashed out of the bed, quickly grabbed his clothes, and jumped out right after Erza and right before Natsu turned the doorknob to let himself and Lucy inside.

***

As Gray landed on the ground he looked about, but Erza was nowhere to be found.

Due to his unnatural habit of stripping down randomly, he was safe from any suspicion even though he was just in boxers.

As he walked through the streets he was desperately looking for Erza. He had to figure out what had happened. How did he end up in Lucy's bed with the S-Class redhead? What would become of their friendship? Would she still talk to him? Worse off, would she completely destroy him? All these questions were piling on and causing him severe mental stress.

The hangover was a bitch too.

So deep in his thoughts was he that he before he had time to realize it, he'd tripped right over Makarov.

"Gray! Pay attention to things around you my boy," scolded the short headmaster of the guild.

"I'm sorry master. I'm a little out of my mind. You haven't happened to have seen Erza anywhere nearby have you?" Gray asked suddenly.

"Actually I saw her flying away towards her place. She didn't quite seem like herself. Is anything wrong?" asked Makarov with caring eyes.

Gray quickly waved his hands frantically in front of his face, "N-nothing's wrong. I just needed to ask her a favour is all. But if she's not looking too well, then I guess it can wait-"

"Ice head!" came Natsu's shout as he and Lucy were heading toward the two, cutting through Gray and Makarov's conversation, to which Gray was secretly thanking some power up above.

Acting as he normally would he replied, "what is it pepper breath?"

This time before Natsu could instigate anything further to start a brawl Lucy asked, "You wanna go on a mission with us? We're just going to go get Erza nex-"

"I think I'll pass this time I-" however before he could finish with his interrupting sentence he caught a suspicious glance from Makarov. The old man was still sharp as a chef's knife and knew the guild members as if they were his own children.

"What are you scared? I'm not surprised," said Natsu as he crossed his arms and gave Gray a '_you're a pussy_' look.

Gray had two reasons to punch Natsu in that instant. The first was that Natsu chirped him and whenever that happened shit went down. The second reason was that it would take Makarov's attention off of him and make everything seem normal, because as it was known, Gray and Natsu always fought.

After the dust cloud from their scrap settled down Gray yielded and said fine, "I'll come with you on the mission. What ranking is it?"

"Nothing hard," replied Lucy, "just helping some rich nobles travel, and they just want the best so they're offering big bucks. And god knows I need that money for rent"

"Oh man... not traveling," complained Natsu, the thought of a long mission on a carriage made his stomach squirm with protest.

"Just run beside the carriage," exclaimed Gray.

"I think I might have to," agreed Natsu.

"Ah there's Erza!" shouted Lucy with a smile.

Gray's eyes shot up and connected with the redhead's. They both quickly looked away and all of the sudden it felt as if the whole atmosphere was weighing down on the two.

"Hey Erza, fight me!" yelled Natsu with all his might as he was already aflame.

"Not right now," said Erza somberly as she looked everywhere except for Gray.

Everyone was quite shocked to say the least and Makarov remained quiet all the more, whilst still watching Erza and Gray.

"Yeah not right now," agreed Lucy as she tried to break the awkwardness, she continued on to Erza and asked, "Hey, you feel like a mission today? I know we all got pretty wrecked at your birthday jam last night Mrs. 20 year old, but I think we've handled worse"

"I was actually going to try and find a simple mission, I need some quick change without being gone for too long," responded the Titania. However, in her mind her thoughts weren't quite aligned with her words, '_more like I need some time away to think_'.

"Hey that's perfect!" exclaimed Natsu ecstatically, "Lucy and I just found a B rank with S rank pay. With the four of us we could get it done in no time at all! Then I won't have to suffer too long on any sort of transportation!"

Before either Gray or Erza could say anything Makarov beamed with a suspicious smile, "well that's a great opportunity for Fairy Tail's number one team! Isn't that right Gray?"

'_What the hell is up with the old man? Does he know? I know for a fact Erza would never tell him!'_ pondered the boy in his mind whilst he nodded and agreed with the guild master.

"Okay then, be careful," spoke the short giant as he walked away, his hands clasped behind his back.

***

"Erza!" spoke Lucy in a sharp whisper as Natsu and Gray were up ahead bickering over god knew what. The blond had noticed the awkwardness between the ice and armour mages but hadn't spoken aloud on it.

"Why are you whispering?" replied the redhead in a hushed tone, scanning the area to see if maybe her friend had noticed a danger that had slipped her mind due to the hangover she too was feeling.

"So Gray and Natsu can't hear. What's up between you and Gray? You two aren't even talking. Whenever Natsu acts stupid you don't hesitate to let him know, but not so much for Gray today. Are you two in a fight? Did you get into a fight when he walked you home last night?"

"There is nothing wrong between me and..." Erza didn't finish the sentence because Lucy was giving her the '_don't give me that shit_' look. She sighed, "He..."

"He got mad that you made him leave when Lluvia was looking for him all night eh? Maybe he caught on that she totally digs him and he was thinking of going for it? No... That doesn't sound like Gray, he wouldn't yell at you for that, especially not on your birthday"

Erza just gave Lucy a confused expression. The blond had just literally created an entire scenario with no prior knowledge of events. It was obvious the girl liked to read a lot.

"That's not it Lucy. I actually can't really remember"

"Oh maybe you got mad at him then?"

"What reason would I have to be mad at him?"

"I dunno, I just remember you dragging him out of there pretty furiously, as if you were in a hurry," responded the blond.

Erza cheeks at that moment were about ten shades darker than her hair. "You're crazy, maybe I was just walking him home because he was so hammered"

"Oh, he really was hammered last night. I can remember him talking about telling you something to your face that he's wanted to say for a long time. The expression he had was so serious I thought he was going to challenge you to a fight. Is that why he's not talking to you? Did you abuse him last night like you usually do when those two fight?"

Erza nervously chuckled, "y-you could say that"

"Hmm?" pondered the blond, "that still doesn't explain the situation; I wouldn't have thought Gray's pride would stop him from talking to you over a fist fight... I mean we are Fairy Tail, aren't we?" finished the blond with a light smile.

"Yeah," sighed Erza.

"Can you remember what he told you last night though?" continued Lucy.

"Not entirely yet, the night is just coming back to me in bits and pieces. I can remember that we did talk for a while. I think it was about our childhood, when I first came to Fairy Tail on my birthday" (**A/N:** don't believe that Erza actually first got to the guild on her birthday but for the purpose of the story, why not, no evidence to suggest otherwise).

***

_**Flashback: Erza's B-Day Bash, the previous night...**_

_Erza entered the guild expecting everyone to jump out and surprise her when she arrived in the afternoon from an S rank where she had to save captive hostages from an assassin's guild. The terms of the mission were that there be no causalities and that all the assassins were to be captured alive._

_Being the Titania she obviously completed her assignment in a fashion so stellar Lucy could've summoned her via key at that moment. Not only were there no casualties, but none of the hostages were even injured._

_So she'd notified the guild she'd be back the following afternoon._

_When she got to the guild's tavern and saw everyone acting normally, which in this case was brawling and drinking, she was a little disappointed._

'_**It's ok Erza, you're a big girl, you don't need people to remember this day, you've been through lonelier and worse times before this. Just be happy for the sake of happines- WHAT THE HELL!?**__' Erza's mind shot to herself as the floor beneath her turned black and everything swirled around as if the guild had been a giant drain sucking up the matter of the world around her. _

_And in the next moment all she could see was light. Then decorations discernible along with the sound of cheer. _

"_HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!" shouted the Fairy Tail mages as Erza was caught completely and utterly by surprise._

"_W-what just happened?" asked a dazed Erza._

"_You were caught in Mysotgan's illusion. We really wanted to surprise you, and everyone knows it's hard to catch you off guard," replied Mirajane with her ever-present bright smile._

"_You guys...," smiled Erza with a slight tear of joy coming off her left eye. _

_The first to burst out was Natsu, "Gray! I demand a drinking rematch-"_

"_OHHHH NOOO!" cut in Kana, "do you have any idea how much cleaning up we had to do after the last time you two went at it!?"_

"_Why are you complaining? You competed with us too! You even beat Gray after I was out! Which is bullshit in on its own because I had some bad fire that day!" complained the fire mage._

"_More excuses eh?" proclaimed Gray as he was eager to uptake Natsu on his challenge._

"_No, no, I think Kana's right on this one. Why don't you boys just have a good time at a normal pace," added Mirajane._

"_Yeah plus you wouldn't want to be out of commission too early on in the night. I want to celebrate my __**entire**__ birthday with two of my closest friends here anyways," said Erza as she came up and got the two in a headlock, one in each arm._

"_Yeah!" agreed Lucy, "let's calm down on the rivalry for one night and just focus on having fun"_

"_Kick Natsu's ass __**is**__ fun-" the sentenced couldn't be finished because Gray was set aflame directly upon the comment, and as usually Erza broke them up on the spot._

_But right after that everyone got down to some serious partying. The atmosphere was brimming with joy._

_Fairy Tail's strongest team was sitting at a booth laughing and making jokes. At one point Natsu grabbed Lucy's hand and dragged her out onto the dance floor._

_That left just Gray and Erza at the table alone, both more inebriated that drunken fist masters._

"_S-soo Gray... not gunna ask the birthday girl to dance!?" teased Erza in her drunken stupor, really not knowing where this slight sense of flirting was coming from. '__**Though I can't deny that he is handsome... WOW where did that come from!? Gray's like your brother... but he's also the first person to ever make you feel welcome here too...'**_

"_I'm so wasted right now that I c-can't dance... BUT! Since it is your birthday, and also because for some reason Lluvia's been grilling me for the past 25 minutes, let's go tango!" agreed the ice-cold exhibitionist._

"_Yeah!" she replied, equally drunk, "just try to keep your clothes on, __**literally**__" _

_The dance ended up being more of a grind, and the two were in each others personal space much more than Erza had anticipated. But for some reason, probably those last six shots she had, she didn't mind it. If anything she was the one being more aggressive, because Erza was not a little softie and was not about to let Gray manhandle her. _

_Gray had his hands wrapped around her hips as he was behind her and she had her hand reach up to cup his cheek. His breath was chilly on her exposed neck. The fact that she was sweating from the intensity of the dance didn't help either._

_As the two got somewhat tired from dancing they went back to the booth where Natsu and Lucy were sitting down. _

"_Wow that last dance was a little indecent," Lucy commented with a comical squint._

"_Oh get off it," responded Gray, "you and Natsu were doing the dirty waaayyy worse than we were"_

"_That's cause this is hot stuff right here!" exclaimed Natsu before hiccuping some flames due to his drunkenness._

_Erza just giggled. She was having a really awesome birthday party._

_At that moment, a slow song came on. Loki quickly came to snatch Lucy away but Natsu beat him to the punch._

_Just as Gray was about to ask Erza, Lluvia came up to the table and asked, "W-would Gray-san like to dance with Lluvia?"_

_Gray looked at the blue-haired aqua mage then at Erza but before he could kindly refuse on the grounds that he was about to dance with the birthday girl, Erza cut in and said, "Of course he would! Wouldn't you Gray". She felt bad because the former element four member really had it in for Gray. No matter that it was her birthday and that she wouldn't mind dancing with Gray one bit, she still wanted to see Lluvia happy._

_Gray looked almost hurt at that moment and Erza couldn't tell why. But the look was quickly gone and Gray put up his usually cocky grin while responding, "of course, let's go!"_

_Lluvia almost fainted with delight but she regained her posture. This was __**not**__ something she was going to miss via unconsciousness._

_Watching the two make their way to the dance floor Erza sighed to herself. Almost everyone had paired up and she, the birthday girl, was alone._

_That was when she heard a low gentle voice behind her, "why are you of all people not out there for this song?"_

_She turned and gasped to see Gerard behind her. Then she realised that it wasn't Gerard and that the alcohol had just gotten to her, it was in fact Mystogan, who looked identical._

_After calming down she answered, "Meh I decided to do someone a favour. No biggie."_

"_Would you then, let me do you a favour... it's the least I can do on your birthday..." asked Mystogan as he extended his hand out to Erza._

_Erza looked up, she was mixed with emotions at the moment. This man in front of her was not Gerard, but __**damn**__ did he remind her of him, and __**damn**__ was he strong as well. She'd always had a deep respect for Mystogan, especially after having taken out so many of Phantom Lord's subdivisions on his own. One great warrior knew how to recognize another._

_She placed her hand in his and got up to the floor._

_While the music swooned the two drew close and danced gracefully._

_The next song was also a slow dance; somehow Mirajane had gotten to the DJ's booth._

_However, for this next one Gray, even though he felt bad about it, had told Lluvia that he'd promised Erza a dance and that he didn't want her to sit at the booth all night on her birthday._

_The azure beauty was slightly saddened but also happy that she managed to get into close proximity with Gray, even if only for a short while._

_Making his way back to the table Gray noticed that Natsu and Lucy were back, but Erza wasn't there. He took a seat across from the two and asked, "where'd miss S Class B-Day girl go?"_

"_Taking a twirl with tall, dark, S Class, __**and**__ handsome over there," said Lucy as she pointed to Erza and Mystogan dancing together._

_As Gray spotted two monstrously strong mages he almost frowned, but for reasons he couldn't understand. Heck he should be happy that Erza looked like she was having such a great time. Maybe more of great time than she did dancing with him?_

"_Hey ice cube... what's wrong? Got frostbite on your balls or something?" chided Natsu._

"_Easy there lava brains," retorted the emotionally confused winter wizard._

"_Seriously what's wrong Gray?" asked Lucy with a hint of concern in her voice._

"_Yeah snowflake, we only care, that's why we're asking. No need to be a pansy about it," edged Natsu._

"_Nothing... nothing's bothering me... I just got to tell Erza something to her face!" answered Gray in a manner that sounded more hostile than he intended._

_His two friends opposite him looked confused._

_Meanwhile Erza and Mystogan were dancing, and the second song was nearing its end. As it was coming to a close she looked back to see Gray and the others sitting at their booth._

'_**I really owe Gray a dance. I made him dance with Lluvia when he was about to ask me. I hope he didn't take it the wrong way...**__'_

_Her thoughts were then cut into by Mystogan's deep voice, "what's bothering you? You look really deep in thought..."_

"_Ah nothing," she smiled back, "just thinking about a little debt I have to pay back to a friend"_

"_A debt?"_

"_Well, I mean, I'm also indebted to you for pulling off that illusion and really surprising me this year," thanked Erza._

"_Ah that was my pleasure, but I can't take even most of the credit because it was Gray's idea to use an illusion to disguise your birthday surprise," responded Mystogan honestly._

"_Really? I never would've thought..." mentioned Erza distantly and once again seeing Gray in a different light than she was accustomed, or even completely comfortable with._

"_Well we figured, he's been challenging you to so many battles throughout your span here at Fairy Tail that he knew it's really hard to catch you of all people off guard," stated Mystogan, "all his losses to you are proof of that"_

'_**Still Gray is the only one who's ever caught you off guard. Even if he hasn't beaten you, he's the only one to have seen you at our most vulnerable...**__' Erza thought to herself, coming to realize how close she and Gray truly were._

_She then turned to the tall powerful man, whom which she was currently being held by and spoke, "thank you very much for the dance Mystogan-san. But I have to repay that debt I mentioned earlier. Also, thank you once again for the pleasant surprise this evening. I'll never forget it"_

"_My pleasure"_

_As she turned back to head to the booth, she thought people would find it lame that she request a third slow dance in a row, but she didn't care because it was her birthday and she would not be denied the dance she owed Gray. She made her way to her friends, but on the way requested another slow dance, to which Mirajane replied, "That's what I was thinking too!"_

_Almost arriving to the table she noticed confused looks on Lucy's and Natsu's faces and a determined looked not seen on Gray's face since the last time he was about to use Ice Shell on Lyon._

_Before she could ask what was up Gray had stood up, made his way toward her, grabbed her wrist and carried her back in the direction of the dance floor all within an instant._

'_**What's gotten into him?**__' were Erza's thoughts at Gray's sudden brash behaviour._

_He grabbed her and pulled her to him and she looked back into his eyes slightly worried and confused. She felt uncomfortable; Gray wasn't acting as cool as his normal self. There was a sense of tension in the way he looked at her. _

"_Gray what's wro-"_

"_Why'd you make me go dance with Lluvia? If you'd wanted to dance with Mystogan you could've just gone up to him earlier, I wouldn't have been mad..."_

"_Gray..." said Erza, her gaze softening as she felt slightly guilty, subconsciously leaning in a bit closer to him. "I just thought that you and Lluvia would have a good time. I know she likes you and I thought dancing with her might've been fun for yo-"_

"_I wanted to dance with __**you**__! For that song, the song after, even this song and the ones following it. I..." he swallowed his words for a moment, '__**did I say too much?**__'_

_Erza looked down and away from Gray. She couldn't stand his gaze right now, it was making her shiver. She released his grip on him a little bit and threatened to stop dancing until he clasped her forearms to keep her in place._

_She glared up at him. He stared down at her with his eye brows slanted in look not quite happy, but not quite angry either, almost... __**challenging**__. _

"_If you want to go at it right now Fullbuster, I'll mop your ass all over the floor!" she challenged back._

_Gray still held that intense gaze upon her; it appeared he was a little more serious than she anticipated. The alcohol was obviously making him want to get something out that'd been bothering him for a long time._

"_You're one of my oldest friends here Erza. And I'm one of the only people you've ever shown yourself to without your armour. I...", he said, his eyes softening._

"_Gray..." responded Erza lips trembling, she was really drunk, and that made her more emotional and she hated him for looking at her in **that** way in this moment because it made her want to cry._

"_I'm so grateful that you've shown me that part of yourself Erza"_

"_Gray... d-don't"_

"_No! That day when you walked into Fairy Tail... I'd changed out of my clothes and lost them __**four times**__! I fell into a ditch __**three times**__! And I even forgot my wallet at __**five different places**__! That day Kana kept telling me I'd had the best luck she'd ever seen. I couldn't believe her..."_

"_I don't understand... what's this got to-"_

"_And then __**you**__ walked in," he explained cutting her words short not only with his own, but with his presence and his dead set expression. _

"_..." Erza was dumbfounded. She could **feel** Gray looking at her. His eyes glazed and half-lidded. She clutched his dress shirt tightly and placed her forehead on his chest. Seeking more out of him now, "__**and**__..."_

"_She was right... I'm the luckiest motherfucker that's ever lived. I'm lucky that you survived the ordeals you have, lucky that you decided to join a guild... lucky that you came to Fairy Tail and became one of my most precious nakama... I really cherish you," he finished softly as his words not only impacted Erza but himself as well. Feelings within himself that he'd never fully listened to which had become so noticeable that he could no longer ignore them. _

_His self realization was cut short when he heard sniffling and felt dampness on his chest. He tilted his head down to where Erza still had her face buried in his chest. "Why am I always finding you crying?" he asked light heartedly._

"_It's because you're a jerk," she said, but with no malice in her tone, "making me cry on my birthday."_

_Then she looked up at him and her honey gold eyes met his and the tears were gone, and Erza's hardened, confident, expression was there and now it was Gray who shuddered which was quite the testament to Erza's presence, because Gray was an ice mage, and ice mages don't shudder. _

_Slowly he dipped down and brought his face within an inch of hers but he didn't go the full way. He stopped right in front of her. He needed her to take the final step; he couldn't force something like this on her. As he paused there Erza could feel his breath. Cool, with the slight scent of alcohol, his breath was like a cooler, she loved coolers. With that she stood on her toes closed the gap between the two. _

_This kiss was short and in a way innocent. It was a half-open-mouth kiss with their tongues slightly touching. It was really wet, and pleasant, but the two were nervous. Gray went in again, this time kissing her upper lip softly, without tongue or deepness, he just wanted Erza to be comfortable. Erza in response kissed his bottom lip lightly with butterfly kisses. Before it could get out of hand Gray stopped and pulled away._

"_I... we can't do this here..."_

"_No you're right," responded Erza calmly._

_After a moment of silence the two turned around to see if anyone had noticed, luckily everyone seemed so wasted that most of the guild members had either left for home or were currently passed out in their bar seats. Lucy was sleeping on Natsu who was on the ground with a big snot bubble growing and shrinking with his snores from his right nostril._

_Before the quiet tension between them got too awkward Gray cursed, "Aw crap! I forgot your gift at Lucy's place. Damn it!"_

_His plan was obviously to present the gift to Erza as a way to take her mind of what'd just happened. Erza smiled at him and then spoke, "let's go get it then. I'm feeling pretty tired. You can walk me home after."_

_Gray smiled, "of course."_

_Erza dragged Gray along pretty quickly as not to be seen by other guild members. This wasn't due to not __**approving **__of Gray, but there were just some things that she didn't want to deal with at that time. That moment Lucy happened to wake up and notice them just leave whilst trying to stir Natsu to get up, but Natsu was so far gone she'd need some of Laxus's lightning to jolt him awake. However, she wasn't the only one to see them together. Master Makarov hiccuped with a grin from his guild master's seat._

_***_

_The walk to Lucy's was quiet but not awkward. Erza held Gray's hand lightly the whole time and Gray couldn't help but blush but he tried to keep it hidden so Erza wouldn't see._

_The two welcomed the fresh air as it blew by their faces, both inhaling and exhaling slowly. Happening upon Lucy's house the Titania and the exhibitionist pulled their common break and entry to get into their nakama's house._

_When they got in Gray started looking around for his gift. Erza made her way to the fridge and yelled back, "Gray, come get some food after you find your gift, you don't want your hangover to be too bad tomorrow morning"_

"_I never get hangovers," boasted Gray, to which Erza snorted and could only remember too well the day after Gray and Natsu's drinking challenge. Regardless his voice rang through again, "but I __**am**__ starving though so I wouldn't mind a bite"._

'_**That's what I thought**__,' mused the Titania in her mind._

_Gray then came back, minus one gift, and sat down flabbergasted. "I don't know where it is! I left it here somewhere!"_

_Erza eyed him with mock suspicion and then joked, "You didn't just make it up to get me here away from Mystogan did you?"_

_Gray's eyes darkened a little bit but not to the point where he thought it'd be noticeable. To be honest he was a little jealous of Mystogan in the fact that he was an S class mage and that he could get a certain reaction from Erza by the fact that he reminded Erza of Gerard. '__**Everyone is allowed their insecurities right?**__' thought the nineteen year old to try and reassure himself. He looked up at Erza and was about to speak when he noticed Erza leaning on his shoulder. Her proximity to him made his heart beat quickly._

_Erza noticed his reaction to her little jab and frowned slightly at how Gray had taken it. But then her lip curved into a bit of smile because she was starting to realize a side of Gray she'd seen only seen little glimpses of in their past, a side she surely wanted to see more of. As she was leaning on him, she even moved onto his lap and started to feed him some sushi she'd gotten out of Lucy's fridge while he was looking for her gift earlier._

_Gray was blushing like no tomorrow and heat was actually coming off his body, quite unusual for his nature. Still, this was an unusual situation, one that Gray prayed he'd be able to remember tomorrow and for the rest of his life._

_As the two ate quietly until Gray almost choked on some food with realization. "I remember where I left your present! It's in Lucy's room!"_

_Erza's eyebrows slanted in, "why would it be in her __**room**__!?" she asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice._

_Gray burst out in laughter, "y-you honestly think that- hahahaha- that L-Lucy and I? HAHAHAHA! Natsu would DESTROY me! It's just in there because Natsu, Lucy, and I were hanging out together before we headed over to the guild for your birthday celebration."_

_Erza blushed and looked away with the expression of an angry child, "you don't have to laugh about it, jerk!" She then felt Gray's hand clasp her own and looked up to see a gentle smile._

"_Come on, lemme show it to you," he said._

_Before she could protest Erza was pulled up by her hand and into Lucy's room full of maroon walls and with a bed covered in dark sheets. On the counter beside her bed there was a large cylindrical case wrapped in glossy navy blue wrapping paper and with baby blue ribbons and a baby blue bow on top._

_As Erza made to grab it Gray caught it first and held it from her reach, "what's the magic word?"_

_Where Lucy would've whined, Erza just glared, "Gray...," he quickly handed her the present._

_This better be good for all the shenanigans you and I went through tonight to get here she quirked lightly and in good nature. When Gray didn't respond right away she looked to see him flustered._

"_I-I... mean... I hope you think it's good,"_

"_Oh Gray... stop being such a drama queen, I know I'll love i-" and all of the sudden she was lost for words as she'd unwrapped her gift from Gray Fullbuster._

_The cylinder turned out to be a glass case that had a golden trim. The base circumference was slightly larger than her open hand, and the height was about 20 cm. Within in the case was a rose that seemed to be made of diamonds and glimmered with intensity even under the dim lights there were currently situated in._

_Erza gasped, "Oh my god Gray! You shouldn't have! How much did this cost!? I can't accept something like this!"_

"_Erza...," he spoke almost embarrassed, "It's not as valuable as you think. If it cost me anything it was just time and concentration, and maybe a little bit of frostbite. That rose there is made of the coldest, hardest, most pure ice I can muster. It's a new technique, I call it ice diamond. It's my most powerful technique now... Thanks for helping my find my shape Erza. But I'm sorry I couldn't get you diamonds, you're definitely worth more than a hundred times your weight in them-"_

_Gray stopped abruptly as he looked to see Erza shivering and sobbing. "What's wrong, do you not like i-"_

_The Titania tackled Gray onto the bed so hard that the boy was almost winded. She had her faced buried deep in his neck as she lay atop him. He could feel her warm breath and hot sticky tears as she exhaled sobs into him. "How could you say it's not as valuable as you think!? It's more valuable than I could have ever guessed by initially looking at it! And I thought it was made of __**diamond**__! G-Gray... I love it so much, thank you!"_

"_Well... I'm glad," he exclaimed, in a relieved tone._

"_What did you mean it cost you frostbite?" Erza edged on._

"_Well it's ice of the same nature as the magic Ice Shel-" SLAP!_

_Gray looked down at Erza who'd just slapped him. His face stung, that was a rough hit. Erza as it seemed was crying even harder now. "I-I thought we'd agreed that after Garuna Island... that you'd never try any of that kind of stuff again! Don't damage yourself over something as trivial as a birthday gift for me."_

_He sat up with Erza in his lap, her feet on either side of him. He looked at her tearstained eyes and whispered to her ear, "Why are you always crying?"_

_At that moment Erza turned her face into his and stole his mouth with her own. Gray reciprocated frantically and this time their motions were much more heated and desperate than the slight kiss they'd earlier shared on the dance floor. Losing their minds in the heat of the moment, the two got rid of their clothes, **intentionally** on Gray's behalf this time._

_**F**_**lashback Ended:**

***

Erza was beginning to feel wracked with emotion as she finally remembered the events of the night prior. She'd always had a special spot for Gray in her heart when he'd first noticed her alone that day by the river bed. But after remembering last night's events Gray had become so much more... or maybe it was that Gray was already so much more to her, she'd just fully realized it last night. She looked up ahead to his tall figure walking alongside Natsu. Did he remember? If he did why wasn't he coming to sweep her away? '**Maybe because you ran before he had the chance**' thought Erza.

"Erza! You're spacing out again!" said Lucy with a loud whisper.

"Sorry...," said Erza.

Lucy looked saddened at friend's depressed demeanour. "Gray really hurt you last night... didn't he?"

Erza snapped up at Lucy, "N-no, he didn't if he had then I would've annihilated him. It's just... _complicated_."

Then Lucy put two and two together, "Oh."

***

Meanwhile up ahead Natsu and Gray were talking, and ripping on each other, as was the case between buddies and rivals.

In between the jests and shots at each others prides Natsu stopped and completely changed the direction of the conversation, "what's up between you and Erza?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," was the borderline instantaneous response.

Natsu gave Gray a look that said _honestly?_

Gray sighed, "I'm starting to remember the night now... and I think I fucked up"

"No. Fucking. Way." Was Natsu's reaction.

"Since when are you detective-fucking-Conan!?" exploded Gray, extremely surprised that Natsu of all people could clue in off one statement.

"Well...," Natsu said in a low tone before looking around back to make sure Lucy and Erza weren't paying attention. As it appeared the two were in conversation. "We were at your place last night-"

"WHAT!?-"

"I forgot Erza's gift at your house before we went to Lucy's!"

"Next time... no pre-drinking"

"Agreed! "

"But yeah, you were at my house... _and_"

"Well you didn't show up last night at all... and you left with Erza... so"

Gray eyes widened to the size of saucers, "What do you mean I didn't show up last night at all... you and _Lucy_ were at _my_ place _all nigh-"_

"Hey, shut the fuck up man!" protested Natsu as one of his hands shot up over Gray's mouth, "You trying to get me killed!? She said If I whispered one thing about last night she'd drown both herself and me with Aquarius. She's _crazy_ Gray!"

"You sure know how to pick them."

"I never said crazy was a bad thing."

"You didn't... on my bed..."

Natsu just whistled and acted a fool.

"Geez... karma's a bitch," concluded Gray calmly as he was too surprised to be angry, "You changed the sheets didn't you?... DIDN'T YOU?"

"Yeah, we changed the sheets, don't worry," '_even though we didn't_,' snickered Natsu in his mind.

"So where did Erza and you go last night?"

"I forgot her gift at Lucy's-"

"HAHAHAHAHA!" burst out Natsu, "OH-ho-ho maaaaan that is fresh! What are the odds?"

"The same as the odds that went down for me and Erza to do what we did that night"

"Don't let this get to your head... but that... isn't as far fetched as you may think"

"What do you mean," inquired the ice mage.

"Well you and Erza are close"

"As close as she is with you. Hell _you_ were the one who saved her from Gerard," said Gray with a tinge of spite in his tone.

"That maybe true but... you've known her longer than I have. And whenever we've showered together, she's always been the one scrubbing your back-"

"LET'S... not... go there...," added Gray, "either way, she's not talking to me now anyways so whatever"

"So go up to her and confront her about it, stop being such a baby," chirped Natsu.

***

At that moment, behind them, Lucy was also pressuring Erza, "go talk to him... you have to be direct with men sometimes or else they'll be lost in their idiocy forever"

"I can't just go up to him. What if he thought last night was a mistake? He was really drunk."

"So were you. Do you feel it was a mistake?"

"Yes... no... I don't know," said Erza as she couldn't look Lucy in the face.

"I can tell just by looking at you, that you don't feel that way," said Lucy as she grasped Erza's wrist and sped up towards the boys while yelling "Gray! Come here for a minute."

"Lucy, don't be stupid, what are you doing?"

"Helping you solve your problem"

"What is it?" responded Gray, trying to seem as if nothing was wrong, and failing miserably.

At that moment Lucy pushed Erza at him, and Natsu snuck up behind Gray to do the same.

The two collided with each other and Lucy ran forward to clutch Natsu's hand and walk ahead as to give the two some privacy.

The two were blushing and couldn't look at each other, but for some reason still remained in the others embrace.

"I didn't tell Lucy... she just... figured it out by herself..."

"So did Natsu, which surprised me, not that I care if he or anyone else for that matter knows but... why'd you run away from me this morning?"

"I was scared and really confused because I couldn't remember what happened," she muttered.

"I was too... but I still wouldn't treat you differently or neglect you Erza. I told you last night, you're really precious to me... and not just as a frie-" he stopped when he felt Erza hug him tight to her.

"You're really precious to me too, Gray," she smiled into his neck.

"I don't want you to cry anymore, or hide your heart in that armour either... it's too beautiful that it'd a shame to not show it to the world"

"Then how would I protect it. I may be strong, but my heart, it's fragile"

"I would gladly use Ice Shell to incase it... that way not only could no one ever damage it, but I could also preserve it so that the world would be able to look at it forever."

"You're way too cheesy Gray. Honestly an exhibitionist like you should be able to come up with way cooler stuff than that."

"Damn, everyone's a critic," responded Gray lightly, "and for your information, it's a bad habit brought upon by my intense training. You ladies just happen to be lucky for it."

"Oh thank you Gray-_sama_," laughed Erza sarcastically, I'll be sure to thank my lucky stars."

"I expect nothing less," he said smugly.

"Shut up," said Erza before bringing him in for a kiss.

Meanwhile in the distance ahead, Lucy looked back a gawked with shiny huge circular eyes at the two kissing behind them.

"Aww they're perfect for each other," squealed Lucy.

"No they're not. It would suck to get your ass kicked by your girlfriend _all the time_... wait! Heheheh. _They are perfect for each other_!" reasoned Natsu, knowing that every time he and Gray got into a competition not only would he have to suffer his own ass kicking from Natsu (even though it was give and take), he'd get extra servings from his one and only as well even when they weren't fighting, "match made in heaven."

***

A/N: Well that was my first Fairy Tail Fic. or Fic that's not a NaruSaku lol for that matter lol.

My writing's a bit rusty so if it's crap... my bad lol.

Please leave reviews as I enjoy feedback, it's why I write. I don't expect many for this one though because the fandom for this pairing is quite small, damn you Natsu and Gerard!

Thanks!


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